St. Michael-Albertville Seventh-Grader Making His Mark a Wrist at a Time

A simple series of parachute cords, a little effort, and a lot of drive; those are the ingredients for success from young Jackson Larson.

The seventh-grader at St. Michael-Albertville has been making his mark around the community, one wrist–or neck–at a time. 

Jackson has taken an idea he came up with at a church camp last summer and turned it into a new business, creating what he has called "survival" bracelets, necklaces and even keychains out of parachute cord. 

"It was really an idea to make some for myself, and then sell them to my friends and stuff," Jackson said. "But it's gotten a lot bigger." 

Jackson made his frist bracelet at a camp in Amery, WI, via

The braided bracelet is made of parachute cord, which is tougher than common threaded bracelets, and more comfortable than the hemp or rope necklaces Jackson has seen. 

"I walked into thewith one, and Jan [Capps] was wondering where I got it. I told her that I made some, and right away she wanted to sell a couple. So I made some for her, and they were gone in three days," Jackson said. 

He's been supplying her ever since. 

This isn't unusual for Jackson, according to his mother, Kathy. 

"He's kind of a business man at heart," she said. "That, and he loves baseball." 

Jackson's now teamed up with Logo Stop to hit a couple of softball and baseball tournaments. He'll visit more this summer. He might (hint, hint) even supply a couple to the Patch booth at Albertville Friendly City Days next weekend. 

The bracelets aren't too time-intensive. A two-colored one takes about 10 minutes, 15 for three. Necklaces are longer, so they can take closer to three-quarters of an hour. 

"We've been enlisted to help a few times," Kathy said. "At one point, my husband looked at me and said, 'Who'd have thought we'd be working for him!'" 

Thus far, he's racked up nearly $2,900 in sales since last September. He's saving up to head out on a Boy Scout trip, and Jackson's made some purchases for himself–including a pair of Oakley sunglasses. 

"I didn't have the nicest stuff growing up, so it's cool that I can do this for myself," he said. 

However, he has made arrangements to donate at least 10 percent of his earnings. 

He donated five bracelets for the silent auction at Mr. Timothy Larson's spaghetti feed (Jackson knew him and said he was honored to help). He also has donated $300 to Healing Haiti (via his church) and Feed My Starving Children. 

He's been dabbling into dog collars as well. 

It's even led to a brush with fame. A fan of Extreme Sports, he asked Levi Lavalle via a Twitter session what his favorite colors were.

"I ended up sending him a bracelet and a neckalce, and he put a photo of them on his Facebook site showing everyone and thanking me for sending them," Jackson said.

"He's been very responsible with all of this," Kathy said. "It's really working for him, and it's fun to watch where he's going to take it."

For more information, check out Jackson's Faceboook page at Larson Survival Gear.